


Lay Me Gently in the Cold Dark Earth

by wednesdays__child



Category: Criminal Minds, Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Ghosts, M/M, Non-Graphic Smut, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-07 15:02:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11061459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wednesdays__child/pseuds/wednesdays__child
Summary: Aaron needs to find a way to Spencer.Spencer needs to find a way to make Aaron stay.





	1. I Just Think About My Baby

**Author's Note:**

> Karl heard "The Work Song" by Hozier and this happened. I'm hoping for 3 short chapters. But this is Karl so...
> 
> Planned crossover with Supernatural - which I'm blaming Rivermoon1970 for - just because. 
> 
> Unbetaed - sorry. All mistake are my own. 
> 
> This may be a little weird - Karl is stretching his artistic wings.
> 
> Spoilers through the end of Season 12.

*************

_When my time comes around, lay me gently in the cold dark earth. No grave can hold my body down, I'll crawl home to her. - The Work Song by Hozier_

Aaron woke. A voice spoke out to him waking him in this place. He looked around, surprised to find himself in a graveyard just as dusk fell over the land. He stood, slow and careful, making sure not to mess up the perfect, pristine suit he was wearing. He could feel himself being drawn somewhere, needed to get to - someone.

But when he reached the edge of the property, he was stopped, frozen in place, left battering against an invisible barrier. He placed his hand against it and pressed. Nothing. He was in. There was something beyond. Something he couldn't touch. Couldn't get to no matter how hard he tried.

He stayed, trying to free himself from this place until dawn broke. Tired from his exertion, he lay down and fell back to sleep.

Every night he did this, every night the same. 

Wake. 

Walk to the edge of the property. 

Encounter the barrier. 

Try to escape. 

Fail.

Then one night, after many nights, he heard it. Soft and broken. Just his name.

"Aaron."

The barrier fluttered and rolled, and suddenly he had hope.

"I'm here," he called back. "I"m here! Call for me again."

But the voice did not return and Aaron fell back to sleep.

The next night, the voice came again.

"Aaron."

"Yes!" he shouted as the walls thinned and he could nearly reach outside. "I'm here. Call for me. Call for me again!"

"Oh, Aaron. I wish you were here right now."

Aaron let out a shout of excitement as he easily slid through the barrier and stepped out of the graveyard for the first time in - well, he really didn't know. He started to run toward that voice, needing to be there, get there now. It pulled him forward as he sped through the city, never once needing to stop or rest.

Finally, he found himself before a familiar building.

"Spencer," he breathed, happy to be home. He found himself before the familiar door and was surprised when it opened for him so easily. The apartment was quiet, just the familiar hum of the refrigerator and ceiling fan broke the silence. He could hear Spencer in the bedroom, softly weeping. Concern for his love drew him that way.

"Spencer?" he asked as he stepped into the bedroom, worried at the state of the younger man.

Spencer had always taken care of himself except for when he was in the crush of depression, either from drugs or death, so Aaron wondered what had happened to make him look so awful now. His normally lush, curly locks were overgrown and tangled, obviously from neglect and being pulled back in too tight ponytails. The glowing porcelain skin was sallow and the fiery hazel eyes were sunken in and dull. This was not his Spencer. Something terrible had happened.

"Aaron?" the younger man whispered, his eyes wide and wild as he looked at his former boss and lover. "What are you doing here? When did you get back?"

"Just now, I think," Aaron answered, "Love? What happened?"

He quickly sat down on the edge of the bed and began to wipe Spencer's tears away and threading his fingers through the tangled locks.

"You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?" Aaron asked, his voice quiet and low. "I'm afraid I don't know much."

"They're dead," Spencer said, nearly too soft to hear. "They're dead because of me."

"Who is dead, Spencer?"

"The team."

Aaron gasped. His friends, his family, they were gone.

"Not everyone," Spencer clarified. "Rossi made it out okay. So did JJ, but everyone else..."

"Emily?"

Spencer just shook his head. It was almost too much to bear. Aaron pulled the younger man into his arms and held him close.

"What happened?"

"Scratch."

Spencer sobbed against his shoulder and Aaron simply held him through it all. Spencer didn't want to talk anymore but that was okay because Aaron didn't want to listen. Tilting his lover's face up with just a gentle push of his fingertips under his chin, Aaron bent down to take the tempting lips with his own. He licked the seam, asking for entrance, which Spencer readily gave. It was all so familiar, all so perfect. It was exactly what he remembered, what he needed.

He pressed the other man down and spread him out on the bed. Aaron took his time relearning every bit of the man beneath him. When Spencer's fingers gripped his hair as Aaron took his hardness in his mouth, he moaned in pleasure. When blunt nails scored his back, he cried out in excitement. When he pressed in, sinking deep inside the shuddering body, he whispered his love.

They made love all night - taking and giving - forgetting the pain and reigniting the passion they thought they had lost. 

Later, much later, laying in the bed tangled around each other, Spencer sighed as Aaron played with his hair. 

"What happened to you?" he asked, his voice sleepy and his eyes droopy.

"I don't really know," Aaron answered before leaning down to place a soft kiss on the lips he loved so. "All I know..."

He froze as he saw dawn break beginning to peek through the half-drawn curtains. He held his hand up and as the morning rays began to shine on him, his flesh began to fade and he felt as if he was being pulled away, torn away from this place, from his lover.

"Spencer?" he tried to say but no sound came out.

"Aaron?" the younger man cried out. "Aaron?! What is happening? Don't go! Please don't go!!"

But as much as he tried to fight it, he couldn't break away, couldn't fight that pull, couldn't stay. He closed his eyes and when he opened them, he found himself back in the graveyard. Back in his suit. Back behind the barrier.

Sighing, he went to find his gravestone. Laying down before it, he fell back to sleep to wait for dusk, praying that Spencer would call him forth once again.


	2. Boys Working on Empty

Once Aaron was gone, Spencer stayed laying in his bed. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Was any of it real? Had he spent the night with Aaron or had it all been just a dream - a wonderful dream turned into a nightmare now that his love was gone. 

Sure he hadn't imagined it, Spencer jumped up from his bed and rushed to his bathroom. He blinked against the harsh lights, shielding his eyes until they adjusted to the bright light of day. He looked in the mirror, gasping at the sight before him. He was covered in marks, love bites and scratches, evidence of the night he'd spent with his lover.

"It wasn't a dream," he whispered. "It wasn't."

He felt the pain from the night before - he felt the stretch of his ass, the ache in his back, the strain in his legs. A pain nearly forgotten but so familiar. A pain that only came from a night a passion with Aaron. He quickly jumped in the shower and rinsed off. He needed to make some calls but he couldn't do that with the evidence from the night before pooling down his legs. 

Quickly he moved to his phone, needing to get some answers. He quickly dialed a number he knew from heart but hadn't called in much too long. 

It rang and rang until finally he heard the cheerful greeting.

"Boy Wonder? It's been much too long. How are you?"

"Hi Garcia. I'm..." Spencer thought for a moment. How was he, honestly? "I'm surviving."

"Well, I miss you and you're random quotes and attempts at jokes that failed but we still laughed at anyway."

It was quiet on the line for a long time until Garcia spoke again.

"You haven't been at any of the Morgan family dinners lately."

"I haven't felt up to it, Penelope."

"I get that, I do, really. But the boys are there. You really should come and see your godsons."

Spencer winced at the low blow. He knew it for what it was but she wasn't wrong. Not at all.

"I'll do better, promise."

"That's all we ask."

"I do have a favor to ask, Penelope."

"Anything, Boy Genius."

"I need you to find Hotch."

"Anything but that."

Spencer sighed. He knew that she wouldn't want to do it, wouldn't want to risk it. He'd asked before and she'd shut him down.

"Garcia, this is important."

"Reid, I don't work for the FBI anymore."

"Well, neither do I but you are the best and i know you can find something. I need to know, Penelope. I just saw him."

"You saw him?!" she nearly shouted into the phone. "When? How? What is..?"

"Penelope!" He interrupted, needing to make her stop and listen. Once she was silent, he continued. "He just showed up at my place and stayed the night. But he's gone now and I need to know, I need to know what happened. Please."

The silence on the line was deafening. Finally, she answered. "It won't be easy. And I'm not getting in trouble for this. If I go to prison over this, you're going with me."

"I just got out of prison, Garcia. I'm not going back."

"I'll see what I can find."

Spencer sat and listened as Garcia typed on the the other end. She was fast and efficient. He knew he wouldn't have to wait long until he heard her gasp and softly sob.

"Garcia? Garcia?! What did you find?"

"Oh, Baby Genius," she whispered, low and broken. "Are you sure you saw Hotch?"

Spencer reached up and pressed some of the bruises littering his body. "Yeah, I'm sure I saw him."

"But it couldn't have been him, Sweet Boy. Hotch is dead."

"What?!" Spencer gasped, feeling like someone had knocked all of the air out of his lungs. "It can't be."

"It shouldn't be but it is. I'm so sorry, Spencer."

"How? How did it happen?"

"You don't want to..."

"Yes, Garcia. I want to know. I _need_ to know."

A couple of more clicks of the keyboard and then Spencer's phone chimed. 

"There you go."

"Thanks Garcia."

"Spencer?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care of yourself and please come to Morgan's for dinner. We all miss you. Please?"

"Okay, Penelope. I'll do my best."

He hung up the phone and quickly scrolled to the message she had sent. Police reports and an official file from WitSec confirmed what Garcia had told him. Aaron was dead at the hands of Peter Lewis. It had happened just three months after he and Jack had left. Scratch had tracked Aaron through the Marshall Service and lured him away. He'd taken Aaron apart by dosing him with the same drug Lindsey had used on Spencer in Mexico. But instead of Aaron stabbing someone else, he'd stabbed himself. The thought made Spencer sob. And poor Jack. Jack had been made to watch the whole thing. 

Spencer stood and walked to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. He hadn't slept well in a very long time and today was going to be an extremely long day.

As he sat down at his small kitchen table, he wondered what to think, where to go from here. This explained so much , like why Aaron never came for him when he was in prison, why he never heard from him at all, even after he'd been released. Aaron couldn't contact him if he were dead.

And Jack? What had happened to Jack? Garcia hadn't given him any information on the boy so he'd have to do some digging of his own. 

But first, he needed to find out what Aaron was and what was happening.

He sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face before picking up the phone and dialing a number he kept hidden from his team.

Once it picked up, he nearly laughed at the greeting he received.

"Hey, Mr. Peabody. It's been too long."

"Hey Dean. Is Sam there?"

"What's the matter, little cousin? Don't want to talk to me?"

"You know that's not it, you dick. I need both of you."

There was silence on the line for a moment before he heard the click signaling he was on speakerphone. 

"Hey Spencer."

"Hey Sam."

"We're sorry we haven't come to see you or anything since you got out of prison," Sam said softly over the line. "Things have been a little on the crazy side for us, but we will always be here for you. All you have to do it call."

"I know, guys. And I wouldn't have wanted you here anyway. I don't think I could take it. But I need something from you right now."

"Anything," Dean said.

"You remember Aaron?"

"The boss you were banging?"

"Dean," Sam hissed. 

"Yes, Dean. The boss I was banging. He's dead and I think he's a ghost."

The line was silent for several long moments before Dean asked, "Are you sure?"

"What? That he's dead or that he's a ghost?"

"Both?"

"Yeah."

Spencer sighed, dropping his head into his hands. "He's dead. Six months, three days and fourteen hours ago according to the report. Been dead all this time and I didn't even know. And I think he's a ghost because he was here last night, in my apartment. We spent the night together last night - all night. But as soon as sunlight hit him, he vanished. So...I'm guessing ghost."

Sam sighed on the other end of the line. "Tell us everything."

Spencer told them what had happened, making sure to leave out all of the juicy details, especially when Dean screamed about TMI. 

"When he was alive, did Aaron ever say anything to you about being in the cold, dark earth?" Sam asked.

Spencer thought for a moment. He gasped when the memory came back to him. "He sang a song to me about two days before he had to leave."

"What was the song, Spencer?"

He closed his eyes and gently began to sing. "When my time comes around lay me gently in the cold, dark earth. No grave can hold my body down. I'll crawl home to you."

"Did..." Sam started to ask, but stopped, sounding uncomfortable. "Did you...was there a declaration of love after?"

"A declaration of love?"

"Did you guys bang after?"

"Way to be sensitive, Dean!"

"Yeah," Spencer whispered, remembering that night. It had been one of the best nights of his life, full of laughter and love. He didn't know then that Aaron would be leaving just days after, that their life together was over. 

"Where did Aaron learned that song?"

Spencer thought back, trying to remember that night. "His grandmother taught it to him. She told him it was meant for him to sing to his one true love."

"Does Aaron's family have any witchcraft background?"

"Not that I know of. Why?"

Sam sighed. "That was a spell, Spencer. A terrestrial binding spell. By singing it to you and then making a declaration of that love, he bound his soul to this earth and to you. He is tied to the earth he is buried in. He can only come out of the grave when you call to him at night.'

Spencer froze, listening to the words in disbelief. "There has to be a way."

"What?" Dean asked.

"There has to be a way to bind him to me, doesn't there? There has to be spell or something."

"I don't know, Spencer," Sam answered, his voice pained and low. "You shouldn't..."

"Don't tell me what the fuck I shouldn't do, Sam!" 

Twin sighs came over the line. "Fine. I'll send you list of books to look through and I'll do my research on this end. We'll let you know if we find anything."

"Thanks."

He spent the day researching, looking for something, anything that would bind Aaron's spirit to his own. Finally, at the end of the day, he gave into the exhaustion and laid his head down, instantly falling into deep, dreamless sleep.

*************

Aaron woke and ran to the edge of the property. The barrier was strong and pushed back at him as he tried to break free.

"Spencer!" he called. "Spencer, please!! Call for me. Call me. Please, Spencer. Don't leave me here. Please don't leave me here."

He called, he screamed, he beat his fists against the barrier keeping him in until he couldn't scream and fight any longer. He leaned against the force keeping him in, slowly sinking down until he was huddled on cold, hard ground. He wondered if Spencer had forgotten him, abandoned him here. He fought against the tears until the they would not be held back any longer and he cried out into the empty night.


	3. Heaven and Hell Were Just Words to Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Necklace in this chapter: http://www.cremationresource.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/celtic-cremation-jewelry_small1.jpg

Spencer woke with a start. He had meant to put his head down just for a moment, just to rest his eyes, he hadn't meant to fall asleep. He grabbed his phone and he was shocked to see it was almost six in the morning. Daylight would be breaking soon.

He jumped up out of his chair and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Aaron! Aaron, come to me! I need you with me now!' He tried his best to recall the words he'd used the night before. "Please Aaron. I need you with me now."

Suddenly the front door burst open and Aaron rushed through the door. The two men rushed to each other, clashing in a tangle of limbs as they clung to each other. 

"I'm so sorry, Aaron," Spencer whispered fervently. "I didn't mean to fall asleep. I"m so sorry."

"Spencer. Spencer, I'm so glad you called for me. I thought you'd forgotten me or didn't want me anymore."

Aaron's hands began to dip under his clothes, pulling at the offending material, desperate to get at skin. Spencer reached out and gripped the strong wrists, stopping his lover's wandering hands. 

"Aaron, we don't have much time. I need you to listen to me. You...your dead."

He stopped, froze, suddenly unable to move.

"Dead? How? I...I don't remember..."

"Don't," Spencer begged. "Don't remember, Aaron. I'm begging you. Don't try to remember. I need to know - and I know this is going to sound weird, but was your grandmother a witch?"

"What?"

"That song you sang to me, remember?"

"The Work Song?"

"It's a spell, Aaron. You bound yourself to the earth. I'm trying to find a way to break the spell so you won't be stuck there but I'm going to need your help."

"What can I do?"

"I need you to see if you can find out where you're buried. I have a feeling I'm going to have to come to where your body is."

"I'll do my best." Aaron looked him deeply in his eyes. "What about Jack?" 

"Jack is alive but I haven't been able to locate him yet. I'll keep looking."

"Spencer." 

The young genius looked into pained chocolate eyes. The sun was rising and there was so way to stop it. 

"I'll call for you, Aaron," he promised. "I'll call for you tonight and every night. I'll find a way, I promise."

"Spencer," Aaron whispered again, and before Spencer could reach out to stop it, Aaron was gone.

He choked back a sob. All he wanted to do was collapse to the floor and cry out all the injustice he was feeling but he had work to do.

The next several days were all the same. His days were spent napping and researching - his nights he called for Aaron and they spent their nights forgetting all but each other. He felt like he was spinning in circles, never able to find what he was looking for, an answer to this awful nightmare. 

Aaron was getting increasingly frustrated as his spirit couldn't rest. He'd gone back to the graveyard and tried to figure out where he was but he couldn't read the gravestones, any of them. He had no indication of where he was or who he was buried next to. He had no way to tell Spencer where to find him.

But Spencer had been able to find Jack. The boy had been admitted into the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents in Virginia. He and Hotch had been relocated to California when they were under WitSec protection, but after Mr. Scratch's attack, he'd needed to be admitted to deal with his emotional problems. Spencer made it a priority to go see him soon if they didn't figure out what to do with Aaron. He couldn't believe that Jack had been so close all of this time and he didn't even know it. He was even in the sister facility that Spencer had his mother admitted.

After a week, he couldn't wait any longer, so he broke down and called his cousins again.

"Spencer," Sam greeted when he answered the phone.

"Dean there?"

"Right here, little cousin," other Winchester answered.

"Have you found anything?"

"No." "Yes." they answered at the same time.

"Dean..." Sam hissed.

"No, Sammy. This isn't your choice," Dean nearly growled. "You have to let him decide."

"Sam," Spencer nearly begged. "If you've found something, please tell me. I can't keep living like this. Having him every night and them seeing him disappear everyday. It's too much. It's all too much."

He tried to hold back the tears but they would not be denied. He began to weep.

"Okay," Sam conceded. "Okay. There's a spell.. But there's one big problem, Spencer."

"What?"

"if you do this spell, it will bind Aaron's soul to yours."

"So?"

"His soul is bound to this earth. If you do that, you will never be able to move on. You will never get to go to on the afterlife. You and he will be tied here, walking the earth forever."

"But we will be together?"

"Yes, but Spencer..."

"Save it Sam!" he snapped. "Tell me the spell."

"Spencer..."

"Just do it, Sammy," Dean whispered. "Give him this."

"Okay."

The line went down then and Spencer saw the phone flash. A link. The spell. The way to save his love and himself this awful torturous life.

It had taken him three days to get all of the supples he needed to complete the spell. He'd called Garcia and asked for her assistance once more. She'd been able to find where Aaron was and Spencer wanted to shake his head at himself and his shortsightedness. Aaron was right where he should have expected him to be - buried next to Haley.

They walked through the cemetery side by side, hand in hand. The shadows were growing long and dusk was coming. They stood before the headstone as Garcia softly wept.

__**Aaron Michael Hotchner**  
The woods are lovely,  
dark and deep,  
but I have promises to keep,  
And miles to go before I sleep,  
And miles to go before I sleep.  
~ Robert Frost 

Spencer gasped when he saw the inscription. Spencer had once admitted to him that this was one of his favorite poems, that it reminded him that all of life had a purpose, that his life had a purpose and he wouldn't stop until he'd completed it.

It seemed more than fitting now. 

He knelt down and began to dig. He didn't need much but he wanted to get some of the richest, darkest soil. Satisfied with what held in his palm, he shook the dirt into the keepsake necklace he'd bought - pure silver with a beautiful Celtic Knot design on its face. He closed it and locked it tight before filling the small jar he'd brought as well. He slipped the necklace over his head, securing it around his neck.

He smiled up at Garcia and nodded. She quickly lit the bunch of sage she had brought with her, blowing lightly on the embers and watching as the smoke lifted and swirled in the cool night air. She took a deep breath and began to walk around the grave in perfect clockwise circle. 

After her third pass, she walked forward to blew a plume of smoke over Spencer's body and Spencer began to chant.

"Bound to me as I to thee.  
Heaven and Hell mean naught to me.  
We together shall always be.  
You and I for all to see."

As the sun dipped below the horizon, a body slowly formed on top of the grave. Spencer smiled.

"Hello Aaron."


	4. Nothing in Her Room but an Empty Crib

Garcia looked down at the body curled up on the ground before them.

"Hotch! Oh...oh my...What!? I thought...I"m sorry, Baby Genius but I didn't think...I didn't know. He's real. He's really real!!"

"Hello Garcia," Aaron said with a small, sad smile. Spencer reached down and helped him stand. "Don't I get a hug?"

"Oh, yes! Yes, sir. Of course! I can...can I?"

Aaron held out his arms and chuckled as the brightly dressed woman charged into his arms, clinging to him as she quietly wept. 

"I'm so sorry," she whispered into his chest. "I'm so, so sorry."

"I know, Penelope."

He kissed the top of her head and pulled back enough to look in her tear-filled blue eyes. "Thank you for helping with this. I can never repay you for everything you've done."

"No. No, no, no. No repayment necessary sir. I am always happy to help love - especially love with my furry friends."

Aaron smiled again as they pulled away before turning to his love. "So now what?"

"Now?" Spencer said, walking forward to take his hand. "Now we go home."

*************

Penelope stayed the night with them, talking about what they were going to do next. They needed to go see Jack and find a way to get him out of the hospital and better, to know that life would be okay now. Penelope had wanted to call everyone, to let them know about Aaron, but Aaron had stopped her. He reasoned that they didn't need to be burdened with this knowledge. If they asked about Hotch, they would decide what to do then but for now, they would continue to believe he and Jack were living happily somewhere in Witness Protection. 

Daylight was on the way and they had a solid plan. Aaron worried about what the dawn would bring so he waited - waited to see if he would disappear again. Light began to pour into their living room and Spencer sighed as he looked at his lover still standing before him. They smiled wide at each other. 

It had worked. It had really worked. 

Spencer was shocked to hear Penelope begin to cry.

"Oh, Baby Genius, I'm so sorry."

He turned to look at her, confusion on his face. "What do you mean?"

"I thought the spell would make him stay but he's gone. Just *poof* once the sun came up. I thought..."

"Penelope. He's not gone. Aaron's right here."

"No. I'm right here."

"I can't...I can't see him."

"Can you hear me?" Aaron tried.

When Garcia didn't move, Spencer figured she couldn't hear him. "He's talking to you right now. I must be the only one who..." His hand landed on the necklace. 

"I'm the only one."

*************

It was tricky trying to get Aaron into the hospital - most of the visiting hours were during the day and it wouldn't do any good to go there if Jack couldn't see his father. He'd had to get special permission from Jessica, since she was the one who held the Power of Attorney for the young Hotchner. She had agreed when Spencer said he thought he had an idea of how to get through to the boy. She was more than happy to comply. She was weary of seeing the once brilliant, vibrant boy sitting in his room, silent and nearly comatose, refusing to interact with anyone, even her. She's finally authorized a feeding tube when the boy wouldn't eat. If Spencer found a way to reach him, to bring him back, she was willing to move heaven and hell to make it happen. 

Finally, after days of delays, they walked into the hospital right before dusk and stood just inside the door of the young boy's room. 

"Hi Jack." Spencer said, stepping a little closer, trying to catch the boy's eye.

He didn't even blink.

"I thought I'd bring someone to see you."

The boy turned away from him then, staring out the window as the sun began to set. 

"Are you sure you don't want to see who is here?"

Still nothing. 

"Are you sure about that?" Aaron's voice was husky and rough with emotion as he looked at his son, broken and defeated as he looked away. 

Jack turned slowly, unable to believe what he was hearing, what he was seeing, what was happening. He sat frozen, looking at the ghost staring at him.

"Dad?" he whispered, frightened and unsure, his voice gruff from disuse. 

"Yeah, Jack. It's me."

"You...you're dead."

"I am. But I'm here now. I came back. I came back for Spencer and for you."

Jack was up and off his chair by the window in a heartbeat, throwing himself into his father's arms. "I did this," he wailed. "This was all my fault. He told me. He told me this was all my fault. All this death. All this time. Everyone. It was all my fault. I'm cursed."

Aaron held the weeping boy and slid to the floor, cradling his child to his chest. He pressed kiss after kiss into the boy's blond hair, so like his mother's. He whispered words of comfort and praise, rocking his son as he cried out all of his pain, his grief, his guilt.

"It wasn't your fault, Jack. It never was. None of it. You're not cursed - you're perfect. I love you. I love you so much."

Spencer joined them on the floor, protecting both Hotchner men in his arms, holding them tight. His words joined Aaron's as he reassured Jack that they would be there for them, both of them, until the day he died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. I was going to go another way with this and Karl had this idea. Damn, that Karl. So Epilogue and we are done.


	5. Epilogue: I'd Still Have My Baby and My Babe Would Have Me

Ophelia ran through the house, ignoring the calls for her to slow down. She quickly climbed the pulldown ladder up to the attic, before slamming the hatch behind her. 

"Good evening, Miss Ophelia," the computerized voice greeted her.

"Shut up," she snapped back.

"As you wish."

She sighed into the darkness. "Lights at forty percent."

The lights came up just enough to take away the gloom and she walked over to the trunk she had been rifling through the last time she was up here and opened the lid.

She hated this town, she hated her life, she hated everything. Being a twelve year old girl in a family full of dumb boys was never easy, but when they moved you from Virginia where all of your friends are to middle of nowhere Kansas just because your dad inherited some stupid family home, it was even worse.

Lawrence, Kansas was not kind to a girl like Ophelia. First, she had a name like Ophelia. Then there were her powers - powers that her family wanted to ignore, forget, pretend didn't exist. Up here, in this attic, she could just be herself and forget all about the kids at school who called her a freak, she could make things float and dance and her family wouldn't tell her to stop it. 

She reached into the trunk she'd found hidden in one of the dark corners of the room. It was old and covered in a thick layer of dust, like no one had touched it in ages. Inside, there were stacks of leather bound journals with lots of handwritten pages - sketches of symbols and runes, descriptions of monsters and demons, how to kill them and how to hunt them. There were seven of them and Ophelia loved to page through them, imagining her family was full of demon hunters who heroically saved people, not teased little girls just because they were different. 

She'd found pictures - actually photographs, not digital recreations or holograms. Lots of smiling faces, some of the pictures had writing on the back - names like Morgan, Dave, Sam, Dean, John, Aaron, Jack, Spencer and Henry. She made up stories about them in her head, considered writing them down, but she wanted to keep them all to herself.

Moving some of the pictures and journals aside, she looked down at the small wooden box at the bottom of the trunk. She picked it up and put it in her lap before slowly opening the lid, staring down at the contents within - two jars, both seemingly filled with dirt, and a piece of folded sheet music. She picked up the paper first, gently unfolding the page until a small, silver necklace fell out into her palm. She ran her fingers over it, smiling at the simple, yet beautiful celtic knot design. The music was old, yellowing around the edges and she smiled at the title "The Work Song". She tried to hum the tune but it wasn't familiar to her at all.

Deciding that the finders keepers rule applied to stuff she found up here, she slipped the cord over her head and settled the amulet near her heart. She startled when she suddenly heard voices. Looking up across the room, even in the low light of dusk, she saw two men standing, watching her with curious eyes.

"Hello?" she called out.

The two men looked at her in shock.

"You can see us?" the dark haired one asked. 

"Uh, I said hello," she shot back.

The curly haired one snorted before smiling down at her. "What's your name?"

"I'm Ophelia."

He smiled wide at her. "Hello Ophelia. I'm Spencer and this is Aaron."

"I've seen you," she nearly shouted as she knelt up to pull the pictures out of the trunk. Holding them out, she smiled. "These are you, right?"

The two men stepped forward then, taking the photos from the girl's fingers. They paged through them, smiling sadly as they went. 

They sat down in front of her, their faces kind and open. The older one - Aaron - asked, "What's your name? Your whole name?"

She was confused but still she answered. "Ophelia Emily Winchester Hotchner."

They started to laugh and she nearly started to cry. "Don't make fun! I know it's a dumb name!" 

"Oh, Sweetheart," Aaron soothed as he reached forward to take her hand. "It's a beautiful name. And we aren't laughing at you, we're laughing at fate. I'm a Hotchner too and Spencer is a Winchester. We're related."

"So you're like my great-grandpas or something?"

"Well, what year is it?"

"You don't know what year it is?"

"It's been a while since anyone has talked to us."

"It's 2239. June 11, 2239."

The two men gasped. A single tear ran down Aaron's cheek. Ophelia was suddenly very sad that she had said something that had broken the older man's heart.

"What?" she asked.

"One hundred ninety two years." 

Spencer sighed, smiling sadly at her. "It's been one hundred ninety two years that we've been walking this earth together. Fifty seven years since the last Hotchner has talked to us. You're the first person we've had actual contact with in fifty seven years."

She smiled then. "So? What are you guys? Ghosts?"

Aaron chuckled.

"Yeah. We're ghosts."

"You're the ones!" she shouted. "Grandpa Sam used to tell me a story about two lovers tied to earth by their love and a spell. My mom used to yell at him for trying to scare me and I didn't really believe him, but he'd tell me the story anyway. It was so vivid and real, like he'd just seen them, talked to them. So it's really true?"

"Yeah."

"Cool!"

By the time she was fifteen, Ophelia had learned to control most of her powers. With the help of Spencer and Aaron, and by reading through the journals left behind by generations of Winchesters before her, she learned all about what she was and what she could do.

She worked on a genealogy study - one that got her on A+ in her sociology class - and traced her lineage with Aaron and Spencer. She was seven generations out from Aaron and she followed him through Jack, Jason, David, James, Derek, Samuel and Jackson. They traced her Winchester lineage all the way back to Sam Winchester. It was his writings that helped her the most. He'd spent a lot of time trying to find a way to release the two men from the binding spell - one that would let them move on from this world and on to the next.

They had become her constant companions - helping her and encouraging her - giving her the support she never got from her own family here in this tiny, backwater town. She came to love them, thinking of them as her fathers, wishing that they could be just that.

Eighteen saw her moving out of Lawrence to go to college in Virginia. She found familial ties there through her Hotchner side and was happy to be in a new place with the men she lovingly called her "Ghost Dads". Nobody here thought she was crazy or weird. She made friends and studied. She had a good life. She didn't want it to end.

So when she made a friend who not only understood her but was also a spellcaster, she immediately told her everything - showed her the journals, displayed her gifts and introduced her to Aaron and Spencer. 

Willow was talented and a quick study. She was more than willing to help Ophelia but when, one day, Willow ran up, kissed her on the lips and declared that she had figured it out, Ophelia found herself conflicted. She had spent they best years of her life with Aaron and Spencer by her side and she wasn't sure she was willing to give that up. She loved them, she needed them. What would she do without them?

"You can't hold on to them forever," Willow had reasoned, holding Ophelia's hand in her own. "They deserve to move on."

"But...I need them."

They fought. Ophelia cried. Willow walked away. 

Aaron and Spencer flanked her as she watched this beautiful young woman, someone she could love with all she was, just walk away.

"It's okay, Sweetheart," Aaron whispered, wrapping a strong arm around her waist.

"We understand," Spencer said, leaning in close. "You've been alone so long. We can stay - for you."

That's when she realized how selfish she was being. She might need them, but they needed to go, move on - they deserved that. They had been tied to this earth so long - how could she deny them this chance just because she was scared of losing them.

Darting forward, she ran after Willow, grabbing the other girl around her waist and kissing her soundly. 

"I'm sorry," Ophelia apologized. "You're right. You're always right."

"Yeah, don't forget it."

They laughed and danced, proclaiming their love for each other while Aaron and Spencer looked on. Joining hands, the two men sighed knowing that their girl would be taken care of even after they were gone.

They'd had to wait five months to complete the spell. It needed to be done at midnight on All Hallow's Eve and they needed to get their supplies together. 

It had so hard to wait, torture knowing that if it worked, they would be gone from her life forever. If it didn't, they may never be able to move on.

She didn't know which was worse.

The night before All Hallow's Eve, they asked her for one small favor. That night found Ophelia hiding under her covers with earplugs and headphones blocking her from what might be the last night of passion the two men would ever have. There was little to block out the declarations of love, the rhythmic pounding of their passion, the desire and desperation in that room. She was happy for them and wished that she would love and be loved just as well.

That next dark night found the two girls kneeling on either side of the grave of Aaron Michael Hotchner. They had dug a small hole in the earth and placed two simple sigils at the top and bottom of the grave. 

Aaron and Spencer stood just inside the circle they had drawn, close to the worn headstone, clutching each other's hands.

Willow reached over and pulled the necklace from around Ophelia's neck and opened it, dumping the contents out in the other girl's upturned palm before placing the now empty pendant into the hole. They smiled at each other and began to chant.

The words flowed easily from their lips and they felt the air around them whip up, charged with magic and love. Willow placed her right hand under Ophelia's and with their left hands, they picked up the jars next to them - Ophelia's filled with the dirt from Aaron's grave, Willow's with Spencer's ashes. Together, they poured the contents into their joined hands as their voices raised and they called out, pouring the ashes and soil into the earth, completing the spell.

The wind died down and night was quiet. Ophelia looked over to where the two men were standing. They had changed. Before, they had always looked exactly like they had in the photographs she had displayed around her room. But now? Now they appeared to be glowing, sparks of silver and gold swirling around them, through them. 

Willow looked around, her eyes wide. "Did it work?"

"Can't you see them?" Ophelia asked, confused that the other girl couldn't see what she could.

"No. It's like they're just gone. Did they pass on?"

She smiled up at the men she loved. "Not yet."

Aaron smiled down at her, love and acceptance shining in his eyes. "Thank you, Ophelia." He leaned down and kissed her on her forehead. It tingled and tickled and she felt the love pour into her skin from that simple kiss.

Spencer chuckled before doing the same. "Take care of yourself and Willow. Just know that we will be with you - always."

She watched as they began to walk away. A bright light shown out of the darkness of the night at the edge of cemetery, right where Aaron used to wait for Spencer to call for him. Hand in hand, they passed through that light, and then, they were gone. 

Hands were on her face then, wiping away the tears that were streaming down her face. Dirt and ash smeared her cheeks as Willow comforted her with soft words and gentle kisses. 

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah." She choked back a sob. "Yeah, it worked."

Together, they filled in the hole, pressing the dirt down and Ophelia said her final goodbyes.

As they stood to walk away, Willow took her hand and started to sing, "Boys working on empty..."

Ophelia silenced her with a kiss. 

"Don't," she whispered. "I want forever. But not like that."

They left the graveyard then, ready to start the rest of their lives together. And Ophelia knew that when her time came around, she'd happily follow them from this life and into the next with her love by her side.

**END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and joining me on this crazy journey.


End file.
